With more than 20 years of crane industry experience, Wayne Essman brings practical knowledge, CCO-certified expertise, and real-world insight to Crane Tech’s crane operator training programs.
From Farm Equipment to Crane Operator
Wayne Essman wasn’t planning to become a crane operator.
Growing up on a family farm in southern Ohio, Wayne was operating tractors before he was even big enough to reach the pedals on his own. His father would climb onto the tractor, push in the clutch, put it in gear, and jump back off. Wayne would throttle up, drop the plow into the ground, and spend the day working the fields. By the time he joined the Operating Engineers, running heavy equipment already felt like second nature.
His plan was to operate bulldozers, excavators, and the earthmoving equipment he had grown up using. Instead, he was assigned to spend a year working as a crane oiler.
“I was actually highly upset about it,” Wayne laughs.
That assignment ended up changing the course of his career.
What began as an unexpected detour quickly became a new challenge that kept him learning. Before long, he realized crane work offered year-round opportunities, greater responsibility, and a career he genuinely enjoyed. More than two decades later, he’s still building on that foundation.
More Than Two Decades of Field Experience
Throughout his career, Wayne has operated everything from small hydraulic cranes to 550-ton all-terrain cranes, assembled and disassembled lattice boom crawlers, hauled oversized loads, and completed complex lifts across a wide range of industries. His experience includes bridge construction, power plants, pile driving, wind energy projects, commercial construction, and countless other challenging projects.
One project still stands above the rest.
Wayne was part of the team that installed the iconic Block O and scoreboard at Ohio Stadium. Operating a 120-ton all-terrain crane in the heart of The Ohio State University campus, he completed the lift while local media documented the project, creating a career moment he still remembers today.
Wayne earned his CCO certification while still a first-year apprentice, a rare accomplishment that reflected both his aptitude and the experience he’d already gained operating equipment from a young age.
Bringing Real-World Experience into the Classroom
Today, Wayne brings more than two decades of real-world experience into every classroom.
He is CCO certified in multiple crane, rigging, and crane inspector disciplines, teaches a broad range of mobile crane, rigging, signalperson, articulating crane, overhead crane, inspector, and qualification courses, and serves as an examiner for many CCO practical examinations. Whether he’s teaching new operators or experienced professionals, his focus is the same: helping students leave with knowledge they can confidently apply on the job.
Wayne believes effective training isn’t about impressing students with overly technical terminology. It’s about connecting with people in a way they’ll remember.
“I try to keep the class entertaining,” he says. “You’ve got to speak their language.”
That philosophy comes directly from his own background. Having spent decades in construction, Wayne understands that many skilled operators learn best through practical examples, demonstrations, and real-world stories rather than reading from a slide deck. His goal is simple: make training engaging, practical, and memorable so students can carry those lessons back to the jobsite.
Why Learning Never Stops
If there’s one lesson Wayne hopes every operator carries throughout their career, it’s that learning never stops.
Experience builds confidence, but confidence should never replace curiosity. Equipment changes. Standards evolve. Every job presents new variables, and operators who assume they already know everything can quickly put themselves and others at risk.
“If you stop learning, you’re dangerous.”
Wayne also believes one of the biggest misconceptions about crane operation is that operators simply sit in a cab moving levers. In reality, the work requires constant planning, awareness, and decision-making.
“If you’re doing your job right, you’re mentally exhausted at the end of every day,” he explains. “You’re always thinking about your next move, what could go wrong, and how to stay ahead of it.”
That perspective is exactly what students gain when they train with someone who’s spent more than 20 years making real lifts under real jobsite conditions.
Life Beyond the Classroom
When he’s not traveling across the country to train clients, Wayne enjoys life on the water in central Florida. After years of Ohio winters, he now spends his free time boating through the chain of lakes near his home with his wife, visiting waterfront restaurants, and enjoying Florida’s year-round sunshine.
For Wayne, whether he’s operating a crane or standing at the front of a classroom, the mission remains the same: helping people work safely while passing along the lessons that only years of field experience can teach.
Want to train with experts like Wayne? Contact us to learn more about our training programs.
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Crane Tech instructor profiles are developed through interviews with the instructors themselves and reviewed by each instructor for technical accuracy before publication. They are intended to provide an authentic look at the experience, expertise, and teaching philosophy behind Crane Tech’s training programs.